Using Fuel cell as a Power Supply for Superconducting Coil

Melika Hinaje (1) , Kévin Berger (1) , Jean Lévêque (1) , Bernard Davat (1)

1 GREEN - Groupe de Recherche en Electrotechnique et Electronique de Nancy

Fuel cells are electrochemical energy converters which allow transformation of the chemical energy of a fuel to electricity through oxido-reduction reaction. The voltage of an elementary cell is usually near 1 V in open circuit and around 0.6 V in nominal conditions of power generation. Fuel cells are then by essence low voltage sources , so that for most practical applications, power management is carried out by electronic converters, allowing in particular to rise the voltage to usual application levels. In this paper, we propose to take advantage of this low voltage for a specific application such as superconducting coils power supply. The solution proposed here for the generation of the perfectly direct current relies upon a fuel cell fed by hydrogen. The main advantages to be taken from fuel cells operated at very low voltages are autonomy - no supply connected on the grid, ensured continuous operation, together with the electrical quality of the current generated, i.e. free.

Mots clés: Current control; Power supply; Proton exchange membrane Fuel cell; Superconducting coil

Domaines: Electromagnétisme; Energie électrique; Supraconductivité [cond-mat.supr-con]

Melika Hinaje, Kévin Berger, Jean Lévêque, Bernard Davat. Using Fuel cell as a Power Supply for Superconducting Coil. IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, 2014, 24 (6), pp.4701906. ⟨10.1109/TASC.2014.2316200⟩. ⟨hal-00981955v2⟩